"Our portion of the price for this has been estimated at four hundred and fifty thousand," Tom said. "That will get us a two thousand square foot house complete with road, electricity, well water, septic system, propane tank, and the landscaping we're after. This is where we might need the help of you and Pauline a little bit. You see, the monthly payments on that kind of loan will run close to three thousand dollars a month. Once I retire, our only source of income will be my ACLU pension, which is going to be about thirty-eight hundred dollars a month."
"You can't live on eight hundred dollars a month, Dad," Jake told him.
"It will only be temporary," Tom said. "Ever since 1975 we've been putting more than half of your mother's income into an IRA account, as well as a good portion of mine."
"Wow," Jake said, surprised. "You were financially responsible?"
Tom and Mary both chuckled. "Guilty as charged," Tom said. "In any case, we have over three quarters of a million dollars in that IRA but we can't start pulling it out until 1993, when I turn fifty-nine and a half. Until then... well... that's where we thought you and Pauline might be able to help us out a little."
"You bet your ass, Dad," Jake told him. "We'll do more than help you; we'll pay for the goddamn house entirely. That way, you won't have to worry about anything at all. All you'll have to pay for is your utilities, groceries, and your property taxes every year."
"No no," Tom said. "We don't want you paying for the whole house. We were just hoping you'd give us enough for the initial down payment on the construction loan to bring the payments down into the range of two thousand dollars or so. Now, between you and Pauline, that would be about..."
Jake held up his hand. "Dad," he interrupted.
Tom looked at him, questioningly.
"We're going to pay for the whole house," Jake said. "That's final. I'll get half and Pauline will get the other half. You'll be free and clear and you can spend that thirty-eight hundred a month going on cruises and buying RVs and touring the country."
"Jake," Mary said, "we can't ask you to do that."
"You didn't," Jake told her. "I volunteered it and we're going to do it."
"I can't allow that, Jake," his dad said sternly. "I do have my pride."
"Screw pride," Jake scoffed. "You're my parents. I'm a multi-millionaire. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you live in some sort of fixed-income poverty while I've got money falling out of my asshole."
His mother raised her eyebrows and gave him a disapproving look.
"Sorry, Mom," he said. "Remember, I hang out with Matt Tisdale and sometimes he kind of rubs off on me. Anyway, I won't take no for an answer. You buy your land and find an architect to design your home and start getting the services set up. Pauline and I will foot the bill. That's all there is to it."
"But..." Mary started.
"No buts," Jake said. "I'm not trying to insult you or placate you or anything else. You guys raised me and you did a damn good job. You were the best parents anyone could hope for — except for maybe that time you caught me with those Playboys, Mom. I still think you overreacted to that one a little bit. Anyway, this is something I'm in a position to do and I want to do it. You guys deserve it."
His parents looked at each other, holding a conversation with their eyes. Jake was able to follow some of it. Can we let them do this? Maybe. Won't they think this is what we planned all along? Maybe, but we didn't. They'll understand that, won't they?
"Uh... what about Pauline?" Tom said. "Shouldn't we discuss this with her before you go committing her to anything?"
"Absolutely," Jake said. "In fact, we should get her over here right now. But I can guarantee you that she'll say the exact same thing that I'm saying. So will Nerdly when his parents bring this up. So why don't we just take it as a given that we're going to do this and stop arguing about it?"
They held another brief eye contact conversation. Once again, Jake was able to interpret a fair amount of it. Could we? Should we? It would really solve all of our problems if we did. But what about our pride?
"Look, guys," Jake said. "Let's get Pauline over here and we'll discuss it some more before we head back to LA. When you see that she feels the same way as I do, maybe you'll feel better about this. No need to make any decisions right now, is there?"
"No," Mary said slowly. "I guess there isn't."
"I'll call Pauline," Jake said.
He did. She agreed to come right over. And, as Jake suspected, she insisted that Jake's plan was the only thing they were going to allow. It took another hour or so, but finally the two siblings were able to break their parents down and convince them to say yes.
The elder Kingsleys' dream retirement was now all but assured.
Jake lifted off from Westfield Executive Airport at 1:33 PM. He maintained control of the plane until they were clear of the local air traffic control and handed off to regional. Once they were given their assigned altitude of eighteen thousand feet, he engaged the autopilot and let it take over the flying duties. So sophisticated were the avionics that the autopilot automatically leveled them off at the assigned altitude, maintained the speed Jake had punched in, and steered the plane toward the navigation beacon he'd programmed in. Once it reached the first navigation beacon, it automatically locked onto the next, changed their course accordingly (which had kind of creeped Jake out when he'd first started using the system, feeling the plane turn by itself, but he was used to it now), and maintained that heading until the next. Assuming no malfunction or change of plan, it would continue to do so until they reached the last nav beacon, which was within visual range of Brannigan Airport in Ventura County.
Jake, of course, maintained a diligent eye on the instruments and especially the airspace surrounding the plane as the autopilot flew them, but he kept his hands on his armrests and his posture relaxed as they soared high over the central valley on their way home. He and Pauline conversed excitedly and frequently about their parents' retirement plan and their own, gladly undertaken roll in it. Neither of them noticed that Helen was not saying much, that she was spending most of the flight staring out the side window at the passing scenery.
Jake resumed control of the aircraft again when they were at five thousand feet above Ventura and in visual range of Brannigan Airport. He slowed them down, continued the descent, and brought them to a safe, gentle landing at 3:55 PM, just two minutes ahead of the time he'd filed on his flight plan.
He went through the shut-down checklist and the three of them climbed out of the plane. They retrieved their luggage from the storage compartment and then pushed the plane into Jake's hangar and secured it. They walked together to the parking lot where Pauline's Mercedes and Jake's BMW had been parked. There, Helen and Jake bid Pauline farewell for now.
"Thanks for flying me, Jake," Pauline told him, giving him a hug. "Your plane is cramped, slow, bumpy, and noisy, but I'll take it over first class any day."
"Thanks, sis," he told her, returning the hug. "And thanks for standing up with me on the Mom and Dad thing."
"Glad to do it," she said. She turned to Helen and held out her arms. "Bye, Helen. I'm glad you came. It's been fun."
Helen returned the hug fiercely, clasping Pauline tightly against her. "Goodbye, Pauline," she told her. "It's been a lot of fun."
Puzzled, Pauline nonetheless returned the hug. "Uh... you bet," she said.
Helen finally released her. Then, to Jake's surprise, she leaned forward and kissed his sister on the cheek. "I'll see you around," she said.
"Uh... right," Pauline said. "I'll see you around."
Pauline shot a what-the-hell look at Jake and then tossed her suitcase in her car. She started it up and, a minute later, she was gone. Helen watched her until she had disappeared completely.
"Are you okay, hon?" Jake asked her carefully. She was acting very strange again.